Death Be Not Proud
by DizmiusArtistius
Summary: SPoilers for OotP, After The Death, Remus does some thinking, and life progresses towards uncertainty by means of the usual suspect, Voldemort
1. Thoughts

Death Be Not Proud  
  
Dizmius A. Cheers to John Donne, for my use of the first line of his sonnet to death, the line continues as follows: ..Though some have called thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so.  
  
A/N: Spoilers for Book 5, yes! simply as this follows off from the ending there.. Remember Azkaban's not in the hold of the Dementors anymore, that's important. SO um. yes.. RIP Sirius, my lovely, lovely luscious Sirius. Beware of the time framing I use. I have it all listed above each time-swap in my story, but you shall get to grips with it in your own time as necessary, yey ( This is basically it: In book five it somewhere states Lucius Malfoy is 41. I'm going to have him as older than harry's parents etc by about 3 or so years, meaning he's older than Severus but they'd have been at school at the same time. Harry was born 1980, the year in book five is 96ish. 96 - 41 = 55, so Malfoy was born in 1955, graduating from Hogwarts in 1973. So lets say harry's parents generation graduated in 1976/7, when they were 18, making them about 38/9 ish now. They were in their mid twenties when James and Lily died. (  
  
~*~ Late July, 1996  
  
Remus and Dumbledore sat in a darkening room with various photographs and empty goblets strewn around the tables and spilling onto the floor. All of them a memory of a time gone by, all of them of Sirius Black.  
  
"I just don't know where to begin." Remus held his head in his hands, his eyes had dark circles around them, being just after the full moon, and from an obvious lack of sleep. "There's so much to say, and so much I can't say in front of prying ears."  
  
"Forget about who will be there and who will be attending simply to implicate others and slander his name further, focus on what is true, that is the most anybody could give." Dumbledore said quietly. "Perhaps Harry would like to be involved, Sirius was his Godfather after all, and. I cannot push from my mind the sight of his face, the agony in his eyes, maybe this would help."  
  
"No." Remus said a little hastily, "No, you can't." Realising this sounded selfish he took a deep breath and carefully placed a photograph of Sirius' 16th birthday back on the table. "He's distraught enough as it is. Making him stand up in front of everyone. Everyone he's ever known to say something meaningful about the father figure he never had enough time to get to know as well as he liked, when all he wants to do is pretend this has never happened and Sirius is back at Grimmauld Place. That would be torture to place upon an already burdened mind."  
  
Dumbledore watched Remus with concerned eyes, "Are you able to do it by yourself? Remus, you only have to ask for help and it will be given."  
  
"No, that's. that's kind of you to offer, but no. I can do this, I must do this for Sirius. He would have done the same for me, I simply don't know where to begin."  
  
~*~  
  
March, 1974  
  
"Summer is miles and miles away, and that means so are the OWLs, what are you starting to revise for?" Sirius laughed and gave Remus' pile of revision books a hearty shove, "Me and James are going to Honeydukes to grab some supplies, you up for it Moony?"  
  
Remus smiled weakly, looking down to the mess of notes and books Sirius had made, and then up at Sirius' face where the glow of a new adventure was making his eyes sparkle and his smiling face beam with excitement.  
  
"We found a new tunnel whilst you were all busy with this History of Magic rubbish." Sirius bounced on his heels, "Goes right down to the cellar of Honeydukes, absolutely perfect throughout. no danger of it collapsing or anything."  
  
Remus frowned "You can't just take things from Honeydukes cellar, that's theft."  
  
Sirius grinned "We're going to leave a note, and the money attached in a little bag or something, Prongs has it all worked out, its foolproof and conscience proof. Great fun."  
  
Remus sighed and decided he'd leave the books for later, prefect or no prefect, chocolate and the delights of the cellars of Honeydukes when the next Hogsmeade weekend was a month away during a full moon was too overpowering and soon enough Remus found himself following Sirius and James through a cramped and rather damp tunnel that didn't seem to have a foreseeable end point.  
  
"This is unbelievable." James poked Sirius' shoulder to grab his attention as they pushed their way up through the trapdoor and into a room filled with boxes of fizzing whizbees and chocolate by the box-load. "Do you remember what flavour of chocolate Lily likes best? She told me yesterday, but that Hufflepuff seeker was literally inches away from being blasted all the way to Azkaban by that bludger from whats his name in Ravenclaw."  
  
"Stuart Penny." Remus helpfully added.  
  
"Yeah, Penny." Sirius nodded knowledgably, "Git who tries to de-broom every seeker he can lay his bat on. Except for that time when Malfoy was on the team last year, and he hexed off Penny's arm. For a Slytherin, that showed good promise for sabotage."  
  
"And he spent the next month under a wand probation, remember?" Remus smirked, "After every lesson, Malfoy had to hand in his wand to the teacher for safekeeping."  
  
"Never seen the bloke look so annoyed. Acted like he owned the place." James snorted, then looked mullish for a moment before stopping and turning to Sirius "Isn't he after your cousin?"  
  
"Which one? Bellatrix got married to Lestrange last year, Narcissa most likely, they just about look the same, but then again I wouldn't know, I wasn't invited to the wedding or any family function since they took off my name from the family tree." Sirius kicked a stray box of acid pops, "Cheers for letting me stay at yours Prongs, I appreciate it you know."  
  
"No problem Paddy." James threw a chunk of cockroach cluster over Remus' head to Sirius "Hey, lets put this in Snivellus' pockets in Arithmancy tomorrow, then Moony can charm them to become cockroaches again, that'd be great."  
  
Sirius grinned, "You know what'll happen don't you." he pursed his lips and swept back his hair, mimicking Lily Evans, "James Potter! You disgust me, I'm not going to date you if you keep on showing your manly and humorous side to Snivellus, it's totally wrong and I don't care if its hilarious and everyone thinks you're cute."  
  
"Shut up!" James threw a fizzing whizbee at Sirius, which exploded in a cloud of sherbet over his hair.  
  
"Now you look like you've you dandruff. bright pink dandruff." Remus smiled happily, "You never know, it might be a hit with the girls."  
  
"You think it's worth a try?" Sirius looked around for a mirror, and unable to find one, struck a pose in front of James and Remus, "Hey girls, like the new hair-do? It's hot off the Diagon Alley fashion week."  
  
"Diagon Alley has a fashion week?" Remus asked, laughing at Sirius prancing about, his hair a sticky mess and a bar of chocolate in his hand.  
  
"I don't know, it probably does." James shrugged, "You're asking the right fashionista though, so tell us Sirius, what IS hot off the Diagon Alley fashion week this year?"  
  
Remus and James never got to hear if it did or not, as they were interrupted by a loud screaming coming from upstairs in the main shop and above the shop in the Honeydukes' living residence. "Intruders! I HEARD them! They're in the store!!! Quickly! Get your wand! Stun them!!"  
  
Sirius struggled to fish out some knuts and sickles from his pockets and displayed them on the top of a closed box of meringue goblin's toes, scurrying around with Remus and James to pick up what they had dropped and get back down to the tunnel.  
  
"Open this door!!! Why did you put so many charms on it!! OPEN IT!!"  
  
"It's not MY fault I like the store to be SECURE"  
  
"NOW WE WASTE TIME GETTING IN!"  
  
"SHUT UP YOU POMPOUS LITTLE GASBAG! CANT YOU SEE IM BUSY HERE???"  
  
Sirius pushed Remus and James down the trapdoor, laughing loudly at the commotion behind the store room doors, he slid down the trapdoor himself and closed it tightly after him.  
  
"Now. THAT was funny."  
  
They walked back, musing over what else there could be in the Honydukes cellar.  
  
"A party perhaps?" James suggested casually as they sneaked out of the tunnel and back into Hogwarts, their robes bulging under the weight of hidden sweets and chocolate. "A Gryffindor party."  
  
"A pre-OWLs party?" Remus tucked in the remaining chocolate frogs into his pockets.  
  
"MOONY!" Sirius groaned, "You're obsessed!!"  
  
"I want to do well, yes."  
  
"But you're obsessed!" Sirius repeated, rolling his eyes, "You will do fine, more perhaps than anybody else due to the mountains of work you do for everything, all neatly planned out and everything."  
  
My god I've been running all over the castle looking for you." Peter Pettigrew puffed, lolloping after Remus Sirius and James, "You have to see this! Outside, look outside the window. Really funny."  
  
Sirius pushed past Peter dropping a few lollies as he lunged towards a window and peered out. Peter bent down and grabbed the fallen sweets,  
  
"Where'd you get these!? You went somewhere without me!?" Peter whined  
  
"Well yeah, but you can come next time, I mean it wasn't like we were gone ages, and I mean. we couldn't find you!" James shifted uncomfortably before peering over Sirius's head and suddenly breaking out into a run for the stairs to get outside. "I don't believe it! Bitch fight!"  
  
Remus followed as Sirius pelted down the stairs after James, "This is great! Lily and Desdemona at each others throats! Girl fight!" Sirius yelled back at Remus, "We can give out refreshments to the crowd!!"  
  
Down by the lake a small crowd had indeed gathered to watch the fiery redhead and the pale black haired girl form Slytherin battle it out over something that had evidently cascaded way out of hand.  
  
"I hope she falls into the lake," Sirius gestured towards Desdemona, "Excellent weather for a little swim. Don't you think?"  
  
"Look!" James grinned, "It's Snivellus!" He pointed across the crowd to a group of Slytherins clearly vouching for Desdemonda who had just swung a very muggle-like slap at Lily.  
  
"You know, for someone who prides herself so much on her pureblood anti- muggle stance on life, that was horribly out of character." Remus observed, as Lily ducked a second swing and returned a slap of her own, sending Desdemona sprawling over the grass.  
  
"WOO LILY!" James cheered, "You show that Slytherin scum who's boss!"  
  
Remus noticed Sirius had sped off into the crowd, distributing sweets to the Gryffindor onlookers. "What's happened?" he asked a short Ravenclaw beside him in the group.  
  
"Oh, well, you see. I didn't see much, this big guy was standing in front of me and I couldn't see. I only heard them arguing over a potions essay that Desdemona had supposedly spoilt of Lily's. it went a bit crazy when Desdemona accused Lily of being a lying mudblood. I mean, isn't that horrible?"  
  
Remus nodded absently, watching as Sirius made his way across to where Severus Snape was watching, glad for once, that the focus of the jeering and hatred wasn't on him.  
  
~*~  
  
Late July, 1996  
  
"Perhaps a written speech would be too. I don't know. too trite for this, I. I want it to mean something, something memorable for everyone." Remus wrung his hands in frustration. "Do you know what?" He suddenly stood up and crumpled the bits of parchment where he'd tried to write the beginnings of his speech, and threw them into the wastepaper basket in the corner of the room, "I'm going to stop this ridiculous search for words. I'm going to go with what seems appropriate at the time. I'm bored of being good old prepared Remus."  
  
"It's kept you alive, Remus, remember that." Dumbledore quietly observed, "But there's nothing that can counter spontaneity." He sighed, "Be watchful of your audience, and. good luck"  
  
Remus nodded, staring vacantly out of the window towards the forbidden forest beyond Hagrid's hut. He had never believed he would have outlived his most cherished friends, being a werewolf and all, but it seemed that he had. And once again it was Remus who was left to pick up the shattered pieces.  
  
TBC 


	2. Remus' Eulogy

Death Be Not Proud  
  
Dizmius A. Cheers to John Donne, for my use of the first line of his sonnet to death, the line continues as follows: ..Though some have called thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so.  
  
*Chapter Two*  
  
August 2nd, 1996  
  
A warm morning sun fell through the windows and made the stone floors of the small church just outside Godric's Hollow glow with a yellow warmth. A service of remembrance. Once falling through the veil, there was no way to retrieve Sirius' body, making a proper funeral pointless. It was better to remember the dead than to wallow in the pity that the coffin they were mourning for would be empty.  
  
Remus wandered up to the lectern and stood behind it, surveying the empty pews. Sunlight was good, Sirius had loved the sun, he'd spent hours basking in its heat in the afternoons of idleness during Hogwarts. He had seen so little sun for just over a decade, Azkaban being in a permanent storm, due to the Dementors' desired habitat, it was a good thing that it would be sunny for this day to bid Sirius farewell. Someone pushed open the large wooden doors at the end of the church and silhouetted by the light behind him, stood Harry Potter.  
  
"Harry." Remus tried his best to sound welcoming, biting back the thousand things he wanted to tell his best friend's son, but now simply didn't seem the right time.  
  
"Snape's outside." Harry muttered, resentful that his Godfather's worst enemy had the sheer audacity to come here. "He wants to speak to you."  
  
"Oh." Remus' heart fell even further. If Snape had some last jeering comment to make, some last request that would make everything seem so more difficult, then Remus would just turn away and leave them all. Every single one of them. Taking a deep breath, he walked outside into the sunlight, giving Harry what he hoped was a heartening attempt at a smile as they passed.  
  
"Lupin." Severus Snape stood at the edge of a row of decaying gravestones. "Dumbledore sent urgent word a few minutes ago. It's Azkaban."  
  
Remus pricked up attention at that, relieved it had nothing to do with Sirius for once. "What's happened?"  
  
"They've found Demona." Severus almost whispered, "The Order, has found Demona's body in the basement of Azkaban's lot of cells."  
  
"Demona? Demona who?" Remus frowned, not recognising.  
  
"Oh for Goodness sake!" Severus rolled his eyes "Desdemona DuCruet! DuCruet, DuCruet! Remember her? Little Miss I Couldn't Even Pass My Potions OWL Slytherin Desdemona!"  
  
"Desdemona who spent all of her fifth year torturing Lily because of some Potions essay?" Remus gasped, "The same Desdemona who Lily hit with the Annus Annullis curse in the Death Eater raids of 1981?"  
  
"The very same." Snape folded his arms in the sleeves of his robes. "They've taken her to Grimmauld Place."  
  
"Why?!" Remus almost choked, "They can't do that! Sirius!" He shook his head, "Is she revived?"  
  
"No." Snape hissed, "And she will stay there until they have found whatever the counter curse is and got Desdemona back to normal instead of this ridiculous suspended petrified state she's currently in!"  
  
"You WANT another Death Eater to handle?" Remus looked surprised, "I know you had this obsession with her in Hogwarts, but that was a long time ago. I. I cant believe I'm talking to you about your lack of a love life on an occasion like this! We can discuss this later."  
  
"Very well, but don't be surprised when you get back to see Desdemona on the table." Snape did not move as Remus expected him to.  
  
"You're staying?"  
  
Snape nodded curtly, and turned away, leaving Remus to ponder on why he was still here, he couldn't want to attend the service, not after the grudges he held against Sirius. There was no further time for thought as people started arriving, greeting Remus with pitying faces. Once the pews were as full as to be expected, with Snape sitting alone at the back of the rows, in a dark corner of the church, Remus took himself up to the lectern and glanced at the figure of Dumbledore for reassurance. He had gone with his plan and had arranged nothing, letting the words speak for themselves as they chose to come forward.  
  
He cleared his throat and began with what seemed most appropriate. "If Sirius could be here now, he'd laugh and say he was pleased so many people turned up, then he'd ask to see the supply of cake and alcohol." He smiled briefly. "You all knew and remember Sirius for different reasons, some." he flicked his eyes up at Snape "might not be so cheerful, but you remember him nonetheless as the bright, overly bright perhaps. the bright, energetic to the point of hyperactivity, dark haired god he always liked to think he was."  
  
A few people tittered in the audience, it was a good start, Remus supposed.  
  
"He didn't have the best pick of lives, any of you who remember or have heard of his family will understand why, there were. certain moral differences between them which led to his leaving just after his OWLs. He went to stay with James Potter, and things were heading for an up. I've heard people call them brothers, and in some ways they were perhaps more than brothers, they were the best of two alike minds, except as Sirius would always insist, he had the better hairstyle of the two. As I recall once, "straight off the Diagon Alley fashion week", which of course was another little joke of his."  
  
Remus frowned as he saw Percy Weasley in the audience, what on earth did he want to come here for? Molly would surely say something. "However, the fact remains that Sirius Black left us as a wanted man. A man wrongly accused of murdering countless muggles and leading the Dark Lord, Lord Volde. mort to the Potters." He paused. "For years, I believed this to be the truth, but as I later found out, it was not. Sirius Black was never a murderer, never capable of leading his friends to their deaths, and spent the better part of a decade in jail, in agony over something he never did. There are many people who would never want to believe this, namely the families of those involved, not just muggle but Wizarding too. But you cannot shield what is true, and I hope that someday the Ministry will find it inside themselves to acknowledge their mistake as we all have done."  
  
A moment of silence as Remus collected his thoughts, after which he then continued - "Sirius never had the chance to have a family of his own, and I have the feeling he would have made a brilliant father. He was definitely the best brother and friend I could ever have hoped for, and anybody who was friends with him could only agree that he brightened up every room he went into, wherever he went. Padfoot, wherever you are now, I know you are brightening up the place there too. And we. we all miss you, and bid you farewell."  
  
Remus sniffed, he never wanted to say farewell, and the bit about the Ministry was going to provoke unnecessary attention, especially after Percy's arrival, but there was little more to be said, so he stepped down from the lectern and fell into a deep and mournful silence as the organ struck up its final song of remembrance and the people filed slowly out of the small church into the brilliant sunshine.  
  
TBC  
  
Rather short, I know, but I wanted this to stand alone as a chapter, rather than try to link it through to something else. 


	3. Potions and Runes

Death Be Not Proud 

Dizmius A.

Cheers to John Donne, for my use of the first line of his sonnet to death, the line continues as follows:

_….Though some have called thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so._

Special thanks to a certain lovely reader **A Darker Shade Of Yellow** for such a yummy review (I didn't realise the word yummy sounded so… so… Umbridge-y… never mind), so I decided to write another chapter after a few weeks, cause it's given me thinking space, you see…

*Chapter Three*

August 3rd 1996,

"The Annus Annulis Curse." Hermione read from a stack of books "First used in 1256 by the Doge in Venice.  Considered by some Wizarding authorities to be beyond control and as such, needs such power and focus to perform, is rarely used."

"Well that's all very well, but what does it do?" Ron absentmindedly kicked one of Hermione's piles of books, which went flying across the floor, one hovering dangerously close to the fireplace.

Hermione rolled her eyes "If you let me continue I might have been able to tell you all in one speech, but you just had to interrupt." She paused meaningfully, "Basically this book says its sort of like a pause button."

"A whatty?"

"Pause, you know…? Oh never mind, its like she's been cursed into suspended animation, she wont grow older, wont move, cant think.  It's as if she's dead, but still alive."

"Oh I get it." Ron waved a hand in front of Desdemona's frozen face, mid-scream of fury, laughing to himself. "She cant see this then?"

"Probably not." Hermione conceded, "But I'd be careful.  Some cases have been known to awake suddenly and continue the actions they were doing when they were cursed, and she still has a wand you know."

"Why's that then? Couldn't they do the curse right the first time?" Ron snorted, "Can't even take a wand out of her hand?"

"Like I said, its frozen there.  I would have thought the ministry have tried to take it out of her hand, because she's a dangerous woman you know… In a lot of the books on the Rising of Volemort." Hermione edged away from the frozen body laying on the large dining table at a painfully awkward angle.

"Any luck?" Remus walked into the dining room with a look of disdain at Desdemona's contorted face.  "Such a charming woman…"

"Hermione was telling me about the curse but she hasn't found anything that might reverse it."  Ron explained, waving a big leather bound book over the top of the chair.  "Says she might just wake up."

"She's waited long enough don't you think?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.  "Over a decade's worth of waiting."

Remus shrugged.  "I should find Moody, he said he was going to search the Ministry archives for us, he doesn't want Desdemona to wake up and curse the house down."

"She can't do that."  Hermione looked aghast "She's not related to the Blacks!"

"I think you'll find she is actually."  Remus sighed, "She's on that tapestry somewhere.  Cousin twice removed through marriage of her parents or something.  She's the Duke of Pontefract's daughter, he married one of the Black's cousins or something like that."

"The Duke of Pontefract?" Hermione's eyes widened "Didn't his ancestors control the majority of Northern Wizarding England until the founding of the Wizengamot?"

Ron groaned heavily.  "No questions on what you got for your History of magic OWL then, even if you refuse on telling us."

~*~

June, 1974

"Excellent, I thought those exams were going to last all summer!" Sirius flopped down on the grass,  "Did you see what happened to Wormtail's potion from the back, Moony?"

Peter turned a violent shade of red from his neck upwards, vehemently wishing he could hide amongst the long blades of grass beside the lake.

"I saw the yellow cloud of smoke it threw up…" Remus answered vaguely, staring up at the clear blue sky "Is James out with his broom already?"

"But of course, didn't you hear earlier?" Sirius sat up eagerly.  "Snivelly's found his quidditch legs after all!"

"What?" Remus frowned "Snape hasn't been near a broom since you hexed it in his first year to buck him off each time he tried to mount it…"

"Yeah but you know who tried to organise a forbidden forest fly over picnic to mark the end of exams, don't you?" Sirius grinned "Demonic Demona."

"Strictly Slytherins only though." Peter added, happy that he had some information to contribute that Remus for once did not seem to know.  "They've found this really swish clearing…"

"So James has gone Slytherin seeking.  Once he's scouted the area, that's where we fit in, guys!" Sirius laughed gleefully 

"Like, yeah right." A smooth voice interrupted.  "Bit of a wild goose chase really, but that's alright I suppose.  Jamesy-boy will get his deserves."

"Demona!" Sirius could not have looked more pleased if he tried, "Ooh! Is that a new dress? VERY you! Love the corset.  Totally haute-couture aren't you. Daddy pay for the shoes too?"

"Funny, was that supposed to be?" Demona threw a glare at Peter who looked appropriately frightened, and blanched white.  "Just cause your family were so ashamed of you that they threw you out!"

"I think you'll find," Sirius gave a bark of laughter "That I left them, not the other way."

"Uh-huh." Demona nodded, "I understand that such a darling popular boy like you needs to preserve his ego, it can be our little secret."

Remus remained silent, watching the proceedings with an outsider's gaze.

"You know, on principle, I don't hex girls… but you're not really a girl are you… so I suppose it wont really count if I …"

Sirius got no further as Demona gave him a hard slap across his face, leaving a red mark. "You deserve everything you get, you and your stupid ego too."

"Happy Christmas to you too!" Sirius shouted after the retreating figure of Desdemona DuCruet.  "What did she say about James?" he turned to ask Remus

"There isn't any Slytherin picnic in the forest, James is going to look for nothing." Remus shrugged. "He'll enjoy the flying part just as much anyway I would think."

"Probably." Sirius nodded, "Hey look, its Evans.  Time for a bit of James-pushing, eh?"  He waved towards Lily Evans who had just walked down the steps from the castle, carrying a carefully bookmarked book from the library.  "Hey! Lily, hi!" Sirius left Remus and Peter on the grass and jogged casually over to her.

"Hello Sirius.  What did you think of the potions?" Lily asked, putting down her book on the grass with her bag. 

"Piece of cake." Sirius grinned, "Hey, seeing as its summer and everything, James was wondering if…"

"If James Potter still wants to ask me out, he should a… know the answer already, and b… ask me himself and stop getting his friends to do his dirty work for him." Lily snapped and sat down with her books "If you'll excuse me… I have some reading to do."

"Ah, you don't know what you're missing!" Sirius clapped his hands together "Romantic broom rides across the lake, candlelight dinners in Hogsmeade, flowers, presents, I could go on forever you know." 

"When I want to take notes on James Potter's wooing techniques I will ask his long list of previous one night stands thank you very much."

~*~

August 4th 1996

"Mad Eye couldn't find anything related to Desdemona." Remus said to the tableful of Order members.  "He was going to tell you himself, but there was a sighting of Bellatrix Lestrange in South Kent, so he's gone on the chase."

Fred and George Weasley were also sitting at the table, having left school and being of age, they had readily accepted to join the Order of the Phoenix.  Since Harry's talk with Dumbledore at the end of the previous summer it had been decided that Harry Ron and Hermione should be allowed to sit in the meetings to be able to contribut their ideas, and be filled in with the necessary details they would need to know.  Harry was at present, still at Privet Drive, he had been accompanied to Sirius' memorial service, but upon Dumbledore's insistence, he had returned to the Dursleys house.

"Has Percy said anything at the ministry?" Hermione spoke up, looking slightly apprehensive about talking of Percy infront of the rest of his family. "He was at the service."

"Wotcher, Hermione.  As far as I've heard, he's said nothing." Tonks shook her head, her pink hair fading into a silver streaked black.  "Observing the proceeding I should think, reporting back to Fudge."

"LOOK!" Ron leapt up from the table, he had been skimming through a book that Hermione had left open on the table, he pointed at a page with detailed rune symbols and coloured scripture.  "I FOUND IT! ME! LOOK AT THIS!"

The look of congratulations on Hermione's face was overwhelming "Oh! Ron! This is really good, I'm sure we can turn the curse around now! I can do this rune pattern with the help of my textbook upstairs…"

"What's this?" Molly Weasley walked round to behind Ron and surveyed the page with an equal share of fear and joy.  "Perhaps when you do this counter curse you might want some supervision, perhaps Minerva McGonagall or Dumbledore himself or…"

"Well its not complicated." Hermione pointed at the page "It's a lot of ancient latin really, look, you need the rune workings then you simply chant _male sit tibi tenebrarum rex, ab initio ad finem sacra ultio, cruenta pugna et epicus furor contra male discipulos ad perpetuam gloriam lucis furor ira tenax contra iniuriam et ruinam rabies ira tenax _as many times as necessary due to the rune fixtures and_…"_

A loud thunk came from the dining room next door, and a scrambling could be heard with a following screaming voice "NO! Lily you don't UNDERSTAND! IM ON YOUR SIDE I…… … um… why…. ……… scenery change… I … I … Lily? No… I… I don't get this, where the HELL AM I?"

The Order members leapt up at raced to the door, pulling it open in time to see Desdemona DuCruet fall to the floor.

"Ah." Hermione's cheeks were tinged with pink.

"Wotcher, she's fainted." Tonks approached the body cautiously, with her wand out.  "It's ok, I have her wand, she only burnt the wall hangings a bit at the bottom."

Ron laughed and patted Hermione on the back. "Nice one, mate. Nice one."

TBC


End file.
